Read of the Week

I snootily told my friend that this book should rather have been called something like Delightful Dairy Desserts because it is so much more than just a book of milk tart recipes.

There are milkshakes, cheesecake variations and custard-based puddings all crammed into the deliciously packaged book – seriously, the printing even looks good enough to eat.

She then pointed out that a milk tart is essentially a form of custard and I had one of those “Aha” moments because she was quite right. Custards that don’t come out of a box are made from egg yolks and milk or cream – just like a milk tart is. Interestingly, this book features recipes that use the egg yolk and milk variety and some that use boxed custards for ease instead.

The recipes also vary in complexity, with some simple enough – but still delicious – for my 11-year-old daughter to pull off on her own and others that required a bit of chef-like know-how.There were also a nice variety of easy recipes. I’m exceptionally put off by recipes that are so complicated that they make one feel like a culinary dunce.

So, whether you are looking for an complicated pudding to impress the tea-club, a quick dessert for a Sunday afternoon surprise sweet tooth, something for the lunch boxes or a tart that can be knocked together quickly in the microwave for that bring-and-share you forgot about – you’ll be able to dip into this book to find a recipe that works. And, it is also available in Afrikaans.

Keith Swart from Bergvliet was the lucky winner of the book On Your Bike, which was featured in last week’s Read of the Week column (September 6). We received 63 entires in the competition for the book written by Chris and Tim Whitfield and published by Tafelberg.